Barkerville Looking For Big Things In 2018

The historic town of Bakerville will officially open for the season on Thursday.

Ed Coleman, the CEO, says there is a lot of excitement and they are very optimistic that 2018 will be a very good year after last year’s wildfires…

“Basically we have a lot of positive energy, optimistic that we’ll have a robust season. We’re hoping to hit 70,000 people this season. I know for the public that are calling throughout Western Canada and other parts of the world, they’re pretty excited to get here where they couldn’t last year.”

70,000 would be up from just 49,085 visitors.

Barkerville broke a 25-year attendance record back in 2016 with 64,765 visitors.

We asked Coleman what was new this year…

“The cottages have opened and we’ve done major upgrades to our bed and breakfast. All of that is occurring as we speak. Lots of reconditioning of buildings. Staff are always refining the program and making sure it’s a lot of fun and people have a good time. We also have a lot more trails in the system, for mountain biking and ATV’s.”

Coleman says they will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Dominion Day, the country’s first Canada Day, on July 1st.